Bloody arena shooters are great and all, but they're just not adorable enough. Though we've long been blasting through enemies, capturing flags and holding command points, there's always been that hole left in our hearts. But all is not lost! Combat Hero Adventures by Jay Armstrong is that same arena shooty action you crave, but with new, cartoony graphics, just for you. Think a simplified Armor Mayhem with cartoony graphics and a sense of humor. But simple does not mean that there's any less action, it just means there's more bullets and less to think about. No grenades, one weapon at a time, simple weapon shop and upgrades, it all means nothing but twitchy shooting action, one hundred percent of the time. Some might call it shallow, but I'd call it pure.

The controls are simple: run, jump, pickup and shoot. You can use a keyboard and mouse combo, or keyboard solely, or gamepad, if you have one. Keyboard controls use [WASD] to move around, and the mouse to aim and shoot. No ammo, no orders, no acrobatics, and it works perfectly fine. There's the standard game modes here too, nothing you haven't seen in your multiplayer shooters, but much more adorable. There's no true multiplayer, but the bots are pretty smart, and you'll only rarely have to yell at them to flippin' defend the stupid flag when they're following you around happily. There's a shop system too, though any weapon you buy becomes available to everybody, so it's not driven as much by character advancement as it is by just wanting every shiny gun there is. There's nothing wrong with that.

In fact, there's not a lot wrong with Combat Hero Adventures at all. There's just not a lot that's new about it either. You would think that the cartoony aesthetic and simple gameplay might mean it's aimed toward younger players, but the slightly off-color humor and rampant bloodshed means it's not exactly kidsafe. It does have a campaign mode, made up of standard matches loosely tied together by a self-aware and occasionally funny storyline, but the gameplay's not really that different from the instant action mode, which is, of course, much more customizable. The weapons are well-balanced and mostly interesting, and the matches get all the more chaotic for each new gun, making it well worth it to catch them all.

So if you're looking for a quick spot of arena-style shootin' and killin', you can't go wrong here. It's not perfect and it's nothing new, but it is fun, frenetic and oh so adorable.

This is a really great game and a breath of relief from the other glitchy shooters that are pretty much a regurgitation of previous games. It's a simple system and thanks to the graphics, it makes it look kind of cute. I am very much looking forward to a sequel. The weapons are all pretty balanced, but here's my take on each of them (I might've missed a few things).

Top Tier: Get these because they rack up kills

High Mid Tier: Good weapons, have some small setbacks

Mid Tier: Decent weapons, could be better. Probably want to get a higher tier weapon.

Low Tier: Okay weapons, swap these out for better ones if you can.

Top Tier

Rocket Launcher

Simply, it fires Rockets in a straight path.

Pros: It's a straight forward weapon because it's linear and just requires a click. More importantly, it's a one shot kill, even if you hit the ground near the target (I call this "Carpet Bombing"). Furthermore, it can get multiple kills with one shot. You can also hit people that aren't even on your viewing screen. Just use the map for targeting.

Cons: Fires pretty slow (about 1 every 2 seconds?) and you can actually kill yourself by accident if you shoot someone that's too close to you.

Score: 5/5 because this is such an awesome weapon AND I gave it a special move.

Grenade Launcher

It shoots bouncing grenades that have about 3 bounces before exploding.

Pros: This gun is great for mind games. It's a one shot kill and fires at a relatively fast rate (one grenade per second?). The bounce is generally hard to predict and is a killer on tight passage maps such as space prison.

Cons: The fact that it's a projectile weapon makes it rather unwieldy at times. If shot straight forward on a flat surface, the grenade reach the ground about 10 character lengths away (or about half the screen). Distance can be extended by shooting at angles.

Score: 5/5 because this is such a dangerous weapon

High Mid Tier

Homing Missile

A 5 shot rocket launcher that tracks another player until either you or that player dies. It also does not change targets intentionally.

Pros: This thing is a one hit kill homing missile. This thing will follow its target forever. It also can cause a multiple kill due to the fact that it's a missile.

Cons: As fun as it looked it the shop, the fact that it only fires 5 missiles makes this gun kind of disappointing (but reasonable, because unlimited shots would be really broken). However, there's another thing that comes along with it and that's about the missile itself. When you shoot the missile, it will track (as far as I can tell) the closest enemy target. It will if a) it hits its target or b) hits another enemy player on the way to its target. Now, here's the catch. The missile will become void if one of two things happen: you die or the target dies. That means, two missiles fired will make it much harder for your target to evade, but if you or the target dies, at least one missile is wasted. However, on the bright side, you should get at least 2 free kills out of this as it fires at the same rate as the rocket launcher. Every couple homing missiles should make a kill, if not every missile.

Score: 4-4.5/5 Because this gun, although it has a few technicalities, can be a literal game changer.

Goo Gun

It shoots a glob of goo that drains health from whatever it sticks to.

Pros: Again, mind games. This gun is hilarious in guerrilla tactics. Basically, pop in, shoot a glob, and then get out. For one glob of goo, you take off at least half of a health bar. Two globs means the target is dead. Plus, this allows you to kill people after you died, which is pretty funny to be honest.

Cons: This gun has pretty much the same firing rate as the grenade launcher, but a smaller range (it's about 3 character widths). When running and shooting forward, you have to be practically on top of the enemy in order to hit them. Plus, if you miss your shot, the goo just stays stuck to where it lands. Not sure if this is a bad thing, but it serves a marker in a sense.

Score: 4/5 because this gun is so funny and rather exotic. Almost like the bio gun from Unreal Tournament?

Shell Gun

A gun that fires the green shells from Mario Kart.

Pros: This gun is hilarious. It's really like throwing the shells in Mario Kart. The shells will ricochet around and travel on floors, slopes, etc. It's a killer on tight hallway maps with passages. Plus, since it's a thrown weapon, you can lob shells over obstacles. Deals a good amount of damage too (at least 1/4 of a health bar). You can hit people from really weird places and angles.

Cons: The shells disappear after a few seconds and the speed of the shells depends on the angle of your shot. The rate of fire isn't bad, maybe a little slower than your default weapon.

Score: 4/5 because it's a really fun weapon.

Flamethrower

Simple enough, it shoots fire up to a certain distance in the direction it's fired in (pointed in?). It will burn all that is in range.

Pros: Great close range weapon. If you're in range with this weapon, it's really hard to miss. A lot of fun in hallways. It will kill another player in under a second, if not heavily damage them. There's also a fun trick you can do with the Flamethrower that I call the "Flame Shot" (or the Hadoken, take your pick). As this weapon is an open flame designed to burn enemies, it has a certain range of about 1/5 of the screen. In order to simulate the burning flame effect, you can leave trails of flame (useful in making walls). Interestingly enough, this allows the Flame Shot to occur. You first have the Flamethrower going. Then, tap the forward button and IMMEDIATELY move backwards. This causes the flame to shoot forward and almost double the range of the Flamethrower. Try it out, it's kind of fun. As I mentioned earlier, you can use the flames to set very temporary flame traps (scattered flame trails) and make walls of flame. In a nutshell, this weapon is very tactical and strategic. One more thing: if you have the flame going and you get killed, the flame you fired will travel the rest of the distance, allowing you the possibility of killing people after you died.

Cons: This weapon's damage is based on time. You need to keep someone at close range, which is pretty dangerous as at that range, EVERY weapon can hit you, even another player's flame thrower. You need to burn someone real good before they actually die.

Score: 4-4.5/5 due to the weapon's potential and the fact that I gave it a special move other than "Spam".

Nail Gun

Fires three homing bullets that will all track the closest enemy. The target does not switch. Bullets do not go through walls/floors.

Pros: This thing is essentially a shotgun with homing bullets. However, it fires faster (big improvement) and the bullets are homing (huge improvement). This allows for more guaranteed kills and allows you to actually provide cover fire (fire the bullets at a 45 degree angle or so and the bullets will rain down). These bullets even can turn around 180 degrees to chase an enemy. Also, the bullets stay together as a cluster of three, so it'll always deal at least half of a health bar.

Cons: The homing isn't really...homing. It curves towards the target and hopes that it'll hit it. Better than nothing though.

Pros: Linear fire, straight forward, you can spray and pray pretty much. Fires fast, you probably get about 3 shots a second. This thing is like a machine gun. Learn how to aim in areas with this gun.

Cons: Nothing really special about this gun. No real perks or anything, just fires fast. You could probably try something similar to the Flame Shot, but it wouldn't help that much because it would just stack two shots closer.

Score: 3-3.5/5 because it's better than the Blaster and I like the sound. It can even be a 4 if you know how to aim properly and predict the enemy.

Shotgun

Fires three bullets instead of one.

Pros: More shots, more chance to hit. The spread is just good enough (about 25 degrees from the center shot) to be useful in hallways and you can spread shot as you hop. Pretty good at close range, as a shotgun should be, as it can take off most of a health bar.

Cons: This gun is really freaking slow. It fires maybe once every 1.5 seconds. Each individual bullet is like a single blaster shot.

Score: 3/5 because it's like having 3 Blasters, at the cost of rate of fire. And shotguns are nice.

Sniper Rifle

Long range rifle that precisely takes out enemies.

Pros: One hit kill and it can happen from off screen. Your best friend before you get a better gun. Allows you to say "Boom. Headshot." There's a nifty trick that is really noticeable with the sniper rifle. If you're being chased, find a sniper rifle that's available to be picked up. While firing at the enemy, run over the rifle while picking it up. This causes the sniper rifle to fire IMMEDIATELY, even before the gun's sprite appears. I call this the "Swap Shot". Good for a quick Hail Mary kill.

Cons: If you thought the reload time for the shotgun was painful, then the sniper rifle is a killer. It takes about 2-3 seconds to reload. Also, if an enemy is right in front of you, the sniper rifle can't hit them because they're past the barrel. Even though the shot from the sniper rifle is long, if an enemy lands in the middle of it, they won't take damage. Good news is that you can tell when the sniper rifle is reloaded by looking at the lights. If it has lights on, it's ready to fire, if not, either it's reloading or you're dead. Finally, as expected of a sniper rifle, you REALLY gotta aim with this thing. Make all shots count.

Score: 3.5/5 Because I like sniper rifles and it was my first weapon to get golden.

Low Tier

Beam Rifle

Fires a laser beam.

Pros: A linear weapon, because light tends to go in lines and these lasers are not Raiden X lasers that bend. This weapon was designed to hit multiple targets. It fires a thick laser beam, about 2/3 the height of a character. It deals a good amount of damage and can score double kills. I'm not even sure of its range because I've been able to shoot people from across the map with this gun but the most common I've noticed is about one screen length.

Cons: One, this gun kinda sucks. If you want multiple kills, go for something else. To even hit an enemy, the gun has to register that the enemy is in range. I've had multiple times where I shot the laser at a falling enemy and it dealt no damage. For the damage that is does do, it's not really worth it.

Score: 2.5/5 Just because it can kill multiple people in one shot. And it's a beam rifle. This is a weapon that I'm really not too sure about. It could be a Mid Tier weapon, but for now, I say Low Tier. Still better than the Blaster.

Blaster

Your default semi automatic sub machine gun.

Pros: It's a weapon. It kills things. It's not that bad actually. Fires about 2 shots in 1.5 seconds.

Score: 2/5 Because it's the basic weapon. But it can be a 2.5 or even a 3 if you know how to aim and evade.

The Health Pack

This thing is amazing because it heals ALL of your health. Grab these whenever you see them, even if you're at full health because that makes one less health pack for the enemy.

Suggestions

At the shop:
Head for the Homing Missile first in order to rack up kills in games fast. Next should be either the Grenade Launcher or the Rocket Launcher. After you get one of those, get the other one. After that, it's up to you. I'd take the Nail Gun because it can be used pretty much anywhere. After the Nail Gun, it doesn't really matter which gun you choose next (the ones left would be Ultra, Beam, Shell, Goo, and Flamethrower).

Use the Rocket Launcher if you want to rack up kills, Homing Missiles if in a pinch, Shell if you need to defend a passage with enemies coming up, Grenade if in narrow passageways in general, and Flamethrower in close range. Nail Gun is for all other times. But remember, when you spawn again, get a new weapon ASAP because pretty much EVERYTHING is better than the Blaster.

Posted by:
AnonlyAnon |
July 12, 2011 11:28 PM

10 Comments

Well, and the glitches I found; sometimes enemies will be stuck walking in place, and the sound effects kept playing, even though they were muted. But mainly grenade launcher. The grenade launcher kept sounding off all the time, causing any other weapons on screen to sound off too. Other than THAT, and the lack of multiplayer, this game is fun.

This is a really great game and a breath of relief from the other glitchy shooters that are pretty much a regurgitation of previous games. It's a simple system and thanks to the graphics, it makes it look kind of cute. I am very much looking forward to a sequel. The weapons are all pretty balanced, but here's my take on each of them (I might've missed a few things).

Top Tier: Get these because they rack up kills

High Mid Tier: Good weapons, have some small setbacks

Mid Tier: Decent weapons, could be better. Probably want to get a higher tier weapon.

Low Tier: Okay weapons, swap these out for better ones if you can.

Top Tier

Rocket Launcher

Simply, it fires Rockets in a straight path.

Pros: It's a straight forward weapon because it's linear and just requires a click. More importantly, it's a one shot kill, even if you hit the ground near the target (I call this "Carpet Bombing"). Furthermore, it can get multiple kills with one shot. You can also hit people that aren't even on your viewing screen. Just use the map for targeting.

Cons: Fires pretty slow (about 1 every 2 seconds?) and you can actually kill yourself by accident if you shoot someone that's too close to you.

Score: 5/5 because this is such an awesome weapon AND I gave it a special move.

Grenade Launcher

It shoots bouncing grenades that have about 3 bounces before exploding.

Pros: This gun is great for mind games. It's a one shot kill and fires at a relatively fast rate (one grenade per second?). The bounce is generally hard to predict and is a killer on tight passage maps such as space prison.

Cons: The fact that it's a projectile weapon makes it rather unwieldy at times. If shot straight forward on a flat surface, the grenade reach the ground about 10 character lengths away (or about half the screen). Distance can be extended by shooting at angles.

Score: 5/5 because this is such a dangerous weapon

High Mid Tier

Homing Missile

A 5 shot rocket launcher that tracks another player until either you or that player dies. It also does not change targets intentionally.

Pros: This thing is a one hit kill homing missile. This thing will follow its target forever. It also can cause a multiple kill due to the fact that it's a missile.

Cons: As fun as it looked it the shop, the fact that it only fires 5 missiles makes this gun kind of disappointing (but reasonable, because unlimited shots would be really broken). However, there's another thing that comes along with it and that's about the missile itself. When you shoot the missile, it will track (as far as I can tell) the closest enemy target. It will if a) it hits its target or b) hits another enemy player on the way to its target. Now, here's the catch. The missile will become void if one of two things happen: you die or the target dies. That means, two missiles fired will make it much harder for your target to evade, but if you or the target dies, at least one missile is wasted. However, on the bright side, you should get at least 2 free kills out of this as it fires at the same rate as the rocket launcher. Every couple homing missiles should make a kill, if not every missile.

Score: 4-4.5/5 Because this gun, although it has a few technicalities, can be a literal game changer.

Goo Gun

It shoots a glob of goo that drains health from whatever it sticks to.

Pros: Again, mind games. This gun is hilarious in guerrilla tactics. Basically, pop in, shoot a glob, and then get out. For one glob of goo, you take off at least half of a health bar. Two globs means the target is dead. Plus, this allows you to kill people after you died, which is pretty funny to be honest.

Cons: This gun has pretty much the same firing rate as the grenade launcher, but a smaller range (it's about 3 character widths). When running and shooting forward, you have to be practically on top of the enemy in order to hit them. Plus, if you miss your shot, the goo just stays stuck to where it lands. Not sure if this is a bad thing, but it serves a marker in a sense.

Score: 4/5 because this gun is so funny and rather exotic. Almost like the bio gun from Unreal Tournament?

Shell Gun

A gun that fires the green shells from Mario Kart.

Pros: This gun is hilarious. It's really like throwing the shells in Mario Kart. The shells will ricochet around and travel on floors, slopes, etc. It's a killer on tight hallway maps with passages. Plus, since it's a thrown weapon, you can lob shells over obstacles. Deals a good amount of damage too (at least 1/4 of a health bar). You can hit people from really weird places and angles.

Cons: The shells disappear after a few seconds and the speed of the shells depends on the angle of your shot. The rate of fire isn't bad, maybe a little slower than your default weapon.

Score: 4/5 because it's a really fun weapon.

Flamethrower

Simple enough, it shoots fire up to a certain distance in the direction it's fired in (pointed in?). It will burn all that is in range.

Pros: Great close range weapon. If you're in range with this weapon, it's really hard to miss. A lot of fun in hallways. It will kill another player in under a second, if not heavily damage them. There's also a fun trick you can do with the Flamethrower that I call the "Flame Shot" (or the Hadoken, take your pick). As this weapon is an open flame designed to burn enemies, it has a certain range of about 1/5 of the screen. In order to simulate the burning flame effect, you can leave trails of flame (useful in making walls). Interestingly enough, this allows the Flame Shot to occur. You first have the Flamethrower going. Then, tap the forward button and IMMEDIATELY move backwards. This causes the flame to shoot forward and almost double the range of the Flamethrower. Try it out, it's kind of fun. As I mentioned earlier, you can use the flames to set very temporary flame traps (scattered flame trails) and make walls of flame. In a nutshell, this weapon is very tactical and strategic. One more thing: if you have the flame going and you get killed, the flame you fired will travel the rest of the distance, allowing you the possibility of killing people after you died.

Cons: This weapon's damage is based on time. You need to keep someone at close range, which is pretty dangerous as at that range, EVERY weapon can hit you, even another player's flame thrower. You need to burn someone real good before they actually die.

Score: 4-4.5/5 due to the weapon's potential and the fact that I gave it a special move other than "Spam".

Nail Gun

Fires three homing bullets that will all track the closest enemy. The target does not switch. Bullets do not go through walls/floors.

Pros: This thing is essentially a shotgun with homing bullets. However, it fires faster (big improvement) and the bullets are homing (huge improvement). This allows for more guaranteed kills and allows you to actually provide cover fire (fire the bullets at a 45 degree angle or so and the bullets will rain down). These bullets even can turn around 180 degrees to chase an enemy. Also, the bullets stay together as a cluster of three, so it'll always deal at least half of a health bar.

Cons: The homing isn't really...homing. It curves towards the target and hopes that it'll hit it. Better than nothing though.

Pros: Linear fire, straight forward, you can spray and pray pretty much. Fires fast, you probably get about 3 shots a second. This thing is like a machine gun. Learn how to aim in areas with this gun.

Cons: Nothing really special about this gun. No real perks or anything, just fires fast. You could probably try something similar to the Flame Shot, but it wouldn't help that much because it would just stack two shots closer.

Score: 3-3.5/5 because it's better than the Blaster and I like the sound. It can even be a 4 if you know how to aim properly and predict the enemy.

Shotgun

Fires three bullets instead of one.

Pros: More shots, more chance to hit. The spread is just good enough (about 25 degrees from the center shot) to be useful in hallways and you can spread shot as you hop. Pretty good at close range, as a shotgun should be, as it can take off most of a health bar.

Cons: This gun is really freaking slow. It fires maybe once every 1.5 seconds. Each individual bullet is like a single blaster shot.

Score: 3/5 because it's like having 3 Blasters, at the cost of rate of fire. And shotguns are nice.

Sniper Rifle

Long range rifle that precisely takes out enemies.

Pros: One hit kill and it can happen from off screen. Your best friend before you get a better gun. Allows you to say "Boom. Headshot." There's a nifty trick that is really noticeable with the sniper rifle. If you're being chased, find a sniper rifle that's available to be picked up. While firing at the enemy, run over the rifle while picking it up. This causes the sniper rifle to fire IMMEDIATELY, even before the gun's sprite appears. I call this the "Swap Shot". Good for a quick Hail Mary kill.

Cons: If you thought the reload time for the shotgun was painful, then the sniper rifle is a killer. It takes about 2-3 seconds to reload. Also, if an enemy is right in front of you, the sniper rifle can't hit them because they're past the barrel. Even though the shot from the sniper rifle is long, if an enemy lands in the middle of it, they won't take damage. Good news is that you can tell when the sniper rifle is reloaded by looking at the lights. If it has lights on, it's ready to fire, if not, either it's reloading or you're dead. Finally, as expected of a sniper rifle, you REALLY gotta aim with this thing. Make all shots count.

Score: 3.5/5 Because I like sniper rifles and it was my first weapon to get golden.

Low Tier

Beam Rifle

Fires a laser beam.

Pros: A linear weapon, because light tends to go in lines and these lasers are not Raiden X lasers that bend. This weapon was designed to hit multiple targets. It fires a thick laser beam, about 2/3 the height of a character. It deals a good amount of damage and can score double kills. I'm not even sure of its range because I've been able to shoot people from across the map with this gun but the most common I've noticed is about one screen length.

Cons: One, this gun kinda sucks. If you want multiple kills, go for something else. To even hit an enemy, the gun has to register that the enemy is in range. I've had multiple times where I shot the laser at a falling enemy and it dealt no damage. For the damage that is does do, it's not really worth it.

Score: 2.5/5 Just because it can kill multiple people in one shot. And it's a beam rifle. This is a weapon that I'm really not too sure about. It could be a Mid Tier weapon, but for now, I say Low Tier. Still better than the Blaster.

Blaster

Your default semi automatic sub machine gun.

Pros: It's a weapon. It kills things. It's not that bad actually. Fires about 2 shots in 1.5 seconds.

Score: 2/5 Because it's the basic weapon. But it can be a 2.5 or even a 3 if you know how to aim and evade.

The Health Pack

This thing is amazing because it heals ALL of your health. Grab these whenever you see them, even if you're at full health because that makes one less health pack for the enemy.

Suggestions

At the shop:
Head for the Homing Missile first in order to rack up kills in games fast. Next should be either the Grenade Launcher or the Rocket Launcher. After you get one of those, get the other one. After that, it's up to you. I'd take the Nail Gun because it can be used pretty much anywhere. After the Nail Gun, it doesn't really matter which gun you choose next (the ones left would be Ultra, Beam, Shell, Goo, and Flamethrower).

Use the Rocket Launcher if you want to rack up kills, Homing Missiles if in a pinch, Shell if you need to defend a passage with enemies coming up, Grenade if in narrow passageways in general, and Flamethrower in close range. Nail Gun is for all other times. But remember, when you spawn again, get a new weapon ASAP because pretty much EVERYTHING is better than the Blaster.

There's a fun glitch with the sniper rifle. When you fire, tap the pause button and the gun will soon reload by itself. This makes the shooting rate of the sniper rifle much faster and allows you to plan your next shot.

also on Jayisgames

>
Dora—
To win this sleek little puzzle game, just match the grid up top to the one on the bottom by linking and adjusting the values of different cells. It sounds easy, but with limited moves, it's trickier than you think. Also free for Android!
...

>
Tricky—
In this action-packed indie game, you're just a a schmuck with a gun whose dreams of making it big are derailed by a little thing called the zombie apocalypse. Blast your way through this quirky, gory shooter!
...

>
Lori.h—
WonderCat must make it through the alien's mines to find his partner and escape the plant they crashed on. This mobile game will have you testing your reflexes and doing your hardest to spot the false trails before you find yourself on the path to destruction. There are also 5 different bosses which have you trying to keep away and grab missiles as you go. So things stay challenging right until the end in this action-packed mobile game.
...

>
Lori.h—
After losing his Wife to illness the Huntsman's daughter has gone off into the forbidden woods filled with tricksters as well as The Hollow Queen. Now the Huntsman must venture in himself and face the unknown to find what took his daughter in this free indie visual novel.
...

JayIsGames offers a free online experience with the best free online games. You can read our daily honest reviews and walkthroughs, play games, discuss about them. JayIsGames.com is a leading Flash and Online game review site. Since 2003, we review every day only the best, including casual games, flash games, arcade games, indie games, download games, shooting games, escape games, RPG games, puzzle games, mobile games and much more.
Submit a Game: Don't just read reviews or play games on JayIsGames.com, submit them! Submit your game now and we might release it in homepage. Use our game submission form.
Check us back often! We add new games every day and only the best games!